Cobian Wins Opening Round to Re-ignite Championship

An excellent getaway from Javier Cobian saw the Spanish driver immediately jump into the lead, holding on for the thirteen laps around the Pau street circuit. The win becomes his first French F4 victory of the year, allowing him to catch up in the drivers standings after a poor weekend last time out.

After his domination in the opening weekend, many thought it’d be another weekend in which Ye Yifei would run off, as he collected a double pole in yesterday’s qualifying.

Unfortunately for the Chinese driver, he was unable to make the most of the clear track in front of him, quickly dropping to third after the first few laps. While, to the surprise of many, Cobian and second place Michael Benyahia broke away, creating a safety buffer to the championship leader, who was unable to show his pace from Paul Ricard.

The top three stayed as they were until the end of the race, ensuring that no French drivers were able to stand on the podium in their home event. In fact the highest placed home national was Pierre-Alexandre Jean, as Gilles Magnus and him had a lonely run to fourth and fifth overall.

An intense midfield battle in the later stages saw a queue form behind eighth place Tristan Charpentier. With two laps to go, the drivers behind started getting impatient, desperate to salvage the final remaining points. As the field started to bunch, seven cars around a narrow strip of Pau wasn’t going to work with Enzo Samon, Marvin Klien and Theo Coicurd being claimed by the streets.

The tight nature of the streets mean that Cobian is unlikely to repeat Ye’s feat of four wins in a weekend, though his win this morning has send a precedent for the rest of Pau’s 75th Anniversary weekend.